“This is the proudest moment of my disc golf career.” Garrett Gurthie received the Bob West Memorial Sportsmanship Award in 2018.

What is Sportsmanship?

Like a great song, fine work of art, or a gifted performance on stage or screen, sportsmanship is challenging to describe in a single sentence, other than to say:

You know it when you see it.

Perhaps that’s why the recipients of the PDGA’s Bob West Memorial Sportsmanship Award — each one highly deserving — hail from such varied backgrounds. There are well-known professionals — Barry Schultz (2000), Brian Schweberger (2002), Nate Sexton (2017), and Cale Leiviska (2019) among them — whose character during competition is well-known among players and fans alike. 

There are those whose passion for playing disc golf sparked positive relationships that turned into business ventures that continue to enrich the game — like Innova Champion Discs co-founder Harold Duvall (1993) and Prodigy Disc co-founder Dave Greenwell (2011).

In some instances, sportsmanship appears to be a family trait. Consider the mother-daughter duo of Sharon Jenkins (2005) and Valarie Jenkins-Doss (2015), or the married team of Jay “Yeti” Reading (2007) and Des Reading (2014).

Who is Bob West?

Bob West was a charter member of the Huntington Beach Higher Flyers — a Southern California club from the early days of disc golf. Beloved for his kindness and generosity — he never won a sanctioned PDGA event — Bob personified sportsmanship for the first generation of disc golfers in one of the earliest active disc golf communities. He introduced the game to players across the southwest United States, and frequently welcomed traveling disc golfers into his home. When Bob passed away suddenly in 1988, his positive impact on the lives of other disc golfers inspired his memorialization on the PDGA’s new sportsmanship award. (Note: Next month’s Memorial Championship - an annual A-tier tournament in Scottsdale, AZ - also honors Bob West.)

Why an Award for Sportsmanship?

The dictionary’s succinct attempt to define sportsmanship reads: fair and generous behavior or treatment of others, especially in a sports contest. Certainly, in a mostly self-officiated sport like disc golf, sportsmanship’s role in competition is elevated.

Thus, the Bob West Memorial Award for Sportsmanship is awarded annually to a PDGA member who exemplifies sportsmanship on the disc golf course and during competition, observes the rules of play, and wins or loses with grace. 

How Are Candidates Nominated?

In the spring of each calendar year, the PDGA issues a call-for-nominations to recognize a worthy disc golfer for the previous season. The PDGA office will list the top nominees on the ballot to be voted on by the Elite Pros, the State/Province and Country Coordinators, the PDGA Major and Elite Series tournament directors, and the PDGA Board of Directors and staff.

Be watchful for your opportunity to nominate an inspiring figure in your disc golf community.